A dad and son duo from Leicester scammed driver out of more than ₤ 60,000 by selling useless car insurance plan that left dozens uninsured.

Ilyas Rauf charged unsuspecting consumers approximately ₤ 300 for void policies, which left motorists dealing with potential fines and car seizures, while covertly sharing thousands of pounds with his son Amer Ilyas.
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In the scam, bogus insurance coverage middlemen will claim they can get you automobile or home insurance coverage as a discount.

They might either hand over a fake policy or a genuine one, which they subsequently cancel to keep the refund on their own.

Alternatively, they get a real policy with incorrect details to bring the premium down - which would likely leave it void must you attempt to make a claim.

Rauf, 51, made ₤ 61,763 from August 2016 to January 2020 by supplying created work letters to secure affordable premiums for his victims.

Between September 2019 and June 2020, he shared more than ₤ 11,000 of his earnings with his 28-year-old boy, who was given the task of hiring victims through social networks.

The dad and boy were sentenced at Leicester Crown Court for scams offenses

The National Crime Agency formerly shared a series of mocked-up Instagram advertisements providing '100% legitimate insurance coverage guaranteed to beat any cost' to show drivers what to keep an eye out for

An investigation found he used letters from a business called Eastern Catering to fraudulently obtain no claims discounts.

He falsely claimed his customers had worked for the business for several years without crashes or insurance coverage claims.

It was later on discovered that the address Eastern Catering was signed up to was the same utilized by Rauf to offer the phony policies.

Police discovered that his son had actually also messaged 31 contacts about insurance coverage on his phone in between October 2015 to March 2021, typically informing clients that his daddy would supply quotes for them the next day.

Amer Ilyas would then inform victims to visit the office or send out pictures of bank cards for processing of payment.

Rauf was linked to 52 fraudulent motor insurance policies across four different insurance companies.

Ilyas Rauf's brother Ziaed was captured on CCTV eliminating two computers from the office while police robbed his nephew's home.

Four call had actually been made in between the siblings before Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully attempted to obstruct a CCTV cam and left.

Ziaed was captured on CCTV removing 2 computers from the office while authorities robbed his nephew's home.

Ziaed Rauf unsuccessfully tried to block a CCTV video camera and got away

How to prevent falling victim to 'ghost brokers'

Karl Parr, from AXA UK, said customers can safeguard themselves by following the below suggestions:

• Avoid acquiring insurance policies promoted through social networks platforms and instantaneous messaging apps.

• Beware of insurance brokers who market their services in personal neighborhood online forums or through advertisements in public locations like clubs, coffee shops or newsagents.

• Don't engage with insurance brokers who request payment in money or through bank transfers. Reputable brokers will use payment options via an online portal.

• Avoid insurance coverage brokers who use personal e-mail addresses or smart phone numbers to sell policies.

• If you're stressed about a policy you've acquired or the details don't look right, get in touch with the insurance coverage provider directly - do not utilize the details offered by the broker.

• To ensure you're dealing with an authorised insurance broker, inspect the Financial Conduct Authority's site or the British Insurance Brokers' Association websit.

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Their rip-off was discovered when financial private investigators discovered that he e declared to have earned ₤ 27,366 from 2016 to 2020 despite taking more than ₤ 61,000 from the insurance coverage scams alone.

When questioned by cops, his child informed officers he could not remember being offered money by his daddy and declared he did not know what it was for.

The three men appeared at Leicester Crown Court on Friday, June 6.

Ilyas Rauf, 51, of Normanton Road, Highfields, Leicester, pleaded guilty to scams by false representation, breaching the Financial Services and Markets Act and moving criminal residential or commercial property and was imprisoned for 21 months.

Amer Ilyas, 28, likewise of Normanton Road, pleaded guilty to money laundering offences and was given 16 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. He was also bought to finish 100 hours of overdue work.

Ziaed Rauf, 47, of Road, Evington, Leicester, was provided 18 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and was bought to finish 120 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice.

The most recent figures from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) reveal the cost of the average automobile insurance plan in January to March 2025 was ₤ 589, a 6 percent drop from the year before.

However, premiums remain more costly today than 2 years ago, with the average policy ₤ 478 in January to March 2023 - 23 percent less than the first quarter of 2025.

It follows a remarkable rise in social media and email hacking reports in 2015, according to Action Fraud.

An overall of 35,434 reports were made to the fraud and cyber criminal activity reporting service in 2024, compared to 22,530 in 2023.

Hacking approaches consist of scammers gaining control of an account and impersonating the owner to encourage others to expose authentication codes.

The frauds, called 'ghost broking' are often advertised on social media, appealing low-cost quotes for an automobile insurance coverage.

Car insurance coverage policies have dropped over the last year, but are still stay traditionally high

The car insurance coverage prices estimate that ARE too excellent to be real: Warning over surge in 'ghost brokers'

Many victims think they are being messaged by a friend.

The most common intentions for social networks hacking were investment scams, ticket scams or theft, Action Fraud said.

Fraudsters can also acquire account information via phishing scams or information breaches.

People often use the exact same password throughout accounts, so when one is dripped a number of accounts are left susceptible.

Action Fraud has actually launched a project, supported by Meta, to encourage individuals to take extra online defense by allowing two-step confirmation.

Victims typically do not realise they have been scammed till they try to declare on their policy or if they occur to be come by cops and asked to show their insurance coverage files.

Karl Parr, Claims Technical Director, AXA UK, informed MailOnline: 'Ghost brokers generally offer premium costs far less expensive than customers can find somewhere else.

'Remember, if something sounds too excellent to be true, it nearly definitely is.'

Young motorist Wayne Simpson purchased an inexpensive vehicle insurance policy on social media before understanding it was fake after he was unable to claim following a crash, landing him with a loss of ₤ 500.

Young motorist Wayne Simpson bought a low-cost car insurance coverage on social networks before realising it was phony after he was unable to claim following a crash, landing him with a loss of ₤ 500

'We called up Aviva and they informed me there wasn't a policy secured in my name and that the number we had actually provided was not a number they would utilize,' he informed Sky News.

'That's when the dust settles, and you understand it's been a rip-off.'
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Mr Simpson said the insurance coverage files looked so genuine that they handled to fool a policeman at the scene of the crash.

'She stated," Your car's not turning up as insured". Quickly I went to my glove box, pulled the insurance documents, revealed her the documents and she checked out it and stated," That's completely great",' he said.